Be careful out there!

Tragedy on Memorial Day in Sequoia NP
https://kmph.com/news/local/56-year-...orial-day-hike

Bummer.

The biggest holiday-related incident here was a fellow DUI'd a power pole and killed all our power for a couple hours starting at 7:30pm Monday. A jogger at the scene stamped out several spot fires from the down power lines. It was along the river with the lines falling across the swimming hole -- but late enough that no one was there.

Mt Russel is quite a ways up there, slightly over 14,000 ft, hardly a tourist destination. More of a mtn climbing accident. The picture on the link above is the Sphinx is in a completely different NP (Kings Can), though they share administrative functions with Sequoia. Mt Russel is on the crest way to the south, just north of Mt Whitney. There are other news releases on the web about this accident which show the real mountain involved, which has a very sheer ridge dropoff approaching the summit.

My strong sense of self preservation keeps me well away from any dangerous precipitous no matter how good I think the shot will be.

Near where I live, someone lost a cat. From what I gather, they are still looking for it.

It's the next big holiday I really worry about. Thirteen families became homeless in this county alone already this month, due to illegal fireworks use nearby. About thirty other homes were barely saved. Upping and upping the fines for such behavior is apparently no deterrent, cause it's mostly bored kids involved, and the cops are overextended doing other things, like responding to real gun noises.